Lipstick
by MegElemental
Summary: Ron dicovers something about Hermione, thanks to a tube of lipstick. Follow their relationship throughout the books and beyond.


**/N: This is my first story I ever wrote for fanfiction, so please be gentle. This is a selection of moments I think could have happened in Ron/Hermione's relationship during the course of the books and after.**

Ron was relaxing on his favourite armchair in the Common Room, listening to the fire crackle. He had homework to do, but he couldn't be bothered. Harry was in detention with that horrible Umbridge woman, and Hermione was working in the corner. Maybe he could borrow her essay after she'd gone to bed…

He was vaguely aware of Crookshanks chasing something along the floor, but he didn't pay much attention to the fluffy ginger cat.

Ron was just dropping off, when something rolled onto his foot. He leant over and picked it up, just as Crookshanks jumped on his foot.

'Ouch! Stupid cat.'

Crookshanks looked at him with an almost Malfoy-like sneer, and waddled off, bottlebrush tail high up in the air. Ron had a closer look at the object the cat had been chasing around. It was a tube of lipstick, a pale red colour, almost pink. Suddenly it was snatched out of his hand.

'What? Oh, Hermione, do you know who this belongs too? Crookshanks was playing with it…'

'It's mine, actually,' said Hermione, tetchily.

'Oh. I like the colour,' he said, trying to placate her. She stalked off. Ron watched her retreating back, gobsmacked. Yeah, he knew Hermione was a girl, but he'd never actually noticed before. She'd always been one of the guys, with him and Harry. She even had curves, he marvelled, as she walked back to her table. Quite nice curves, too.

When Harry came in later, Ron was still thinking about his discovery.

'Have you done Trelawney's essay yet?'

'Hang on a minute; I'm having an epiphany here.'

Harry soon gave him up as a lost cause and went to copy off Hermione. Ron was still having trouble getting his head round it, but as he lay in bed that night listening to Neville's snores, he knew he would never be able to look at Hermione the same way again.

Ron had a feeling he was slowly and surely falling in love with Hermione Granger. But he was also slowly and surely losing hope. She would never give him a second glance when he was around Harry all the time, not to mention she was still in contact with Vicky, and she'd snogged him. Ron personally thought she'd have more taste. He also felt a little bit jealous.

Sitting in the Common Room, Ron just felt depressed. His confrontation with Ginny and Dean in the corridor, on the way back from quidditch, had shown him that his little sister had a better love life than he did. Ginny had been right, he might as well have a picture of Auntie Muriel under his pillow.

Just then Lavender and Parvati walked past, chatting. Lavender's bag split, and the contents of her bag went all over the floor. Ron heaved himself up off the armchair and helped to pick up her stuff.

'Thanks,' said Lavender, blushing, and they both shot off towards the girls Dormitory. Ron shook his head, confused, like a dog shaking off water. But as he went to sit down, he caught sight of a tube of lipstick on the floor that they must have overlooked. Picking it up, he noticed it was almost the same colour as Hermione's. He decided to give it back to Lavender the next day.

He sat back down, and looked over to where Hermione was sitting. His eyes met hers, and she looked angry, before she dropped hers back to her parchment. Ron was even more confused. Girls, he thought.

He went to bed confused, but the next morning his nerves about the quidditch match drove everything out of his head, though at breakfast Lavender wished him good luck. He ignored this, but after the match, in which he thought he'd done well, very well in fact, he remembered that Lavender had laughed at his fanged Frisbee earlier that year. Could she be… flirting with him?

He stormed out of the changing room in a huff. Hermione thought he was bad at Quidditch. She thought he only did well because Harry gave him lucky potion! Ron was angry, upset, and hurt. And he'd thought he'd been getting somewhere this year. He charged through the portrait hole, but stopped short when Lavender met him at the bottom of the stairs to his dormitory.

'I thought you did really well, Ron.'

'Um, thanks. Oh, you left your lipstick behind the other day,' he said, and gave it back to her. She took it, blushing slightly. Ron didn't think, he just kissed her. He was still kissing her when Harry came in later.

It was nice, but he found himself wishing it was Hermione his arms were wrapped around, not Lavender. She broke away, flushed.

'How about we go somewhere more private,' she whispered. He nodded, and she led him out the Common Room. She took him to a deserted classroom, and, giggling, opened the door. Only to find Harry and Hermione in there, Hermione with birds round her head, Harry looking frustrated.

'Oh,' he said, and abruptly stopped laughing.

'Oops,' said Lavender, giggling harder, and she left. Ron stayed, fidgeting awkwardly. There was silence. He avoided Hermione's eye, feeling guilty. He was angry at himself for feeling like that, why should he feel guilty? He had done nothing wrong. He decided to break the silence.

'Hi Harry! Wondered where you'd got to!' he said, with false cheeriness. He gulped as he saw Hermione slide off the desk, the yellow birds still flying around her head.

'You shouldn't leave Lavender waiting outside, she'll wonder where you've gone,' she said, delicately. Ron watched her walk slowly to the door. He shouldn't feel guilty, he shouldn't feel guilty, she snogged Krum. He repeated this mantra in his head. In any case, he was relieved she didn't attack him. He'd seen her punch, and had no wish to be the one she was punching. He knew he would never be able to hit her back. She reached the door, and suddenly shouted,

'_Oppugno_! The birds encircling her head came speeding towards him. He yelped, and covered his face, but the birds were vicious and scratched every bit of him they could reach.

'Gerrroffme!' he yelled, trying to bat them away. Harry looked horrified, and Hermione looked simultaneously furious and upset. He heard a sob before the door closed, and he turned his attention back to the birds that were trying to scratch his eyes out.

Harry left the Head's office, leaving him and Hermione alone in the room.

'Can we not go back to the Great Hall?' asked Hermione, her eyes glistening. Ron knew how she felt. He didn't want to go back, to see the dead lain out on the floor, to bring home the truth of what happened…

'No.' Ron looked around the room, but couldn't find any tissues, so he conjured up some, because Hermione looked like she was about to cry. He handed it to her.

'Thanks,' she sniffled, blowing her nose. Ro put his arm round her, awkwardly. The last time they'd been together, properly, she'd kissed him. Ron wasn't sure whether the impending battle was her reason, or whether she loved him, like he loved her.

'Ron, I'm so sorry,' she sniffed, 'about Fred.' Ron felt the burning sensation near his eyelids, like he always did when he was about to cry.

'And poor Teddy, and Andromeda, and Dennis…' She broke down into tears. Ron gathered her up in his arms, trying to ignore the stares of the portraits around him.

'I know what you need, food,' he said, and gently steered her down to the kitchens. They arrived to find the House Elves sitting around, looking bored and upset. They all jumped up immediately, looking excited.

'What can we do for you, Sir and Miss?' They asked, excited.

'What do you want, Hermione?' Ron asked. She shook her head,

'I d-d-don't k-know,' she gasped, between sobs.

'Just bring some butterbeer and chocolate, please,' asked Ron, and soon a silver platter with tankards and every thing under the sun that contained chocolate.

'Come on Hermione, please have something to eat, or you'll have a sugar low.' Ron passed her a butterbeer. Although her eyes were puffy, and her face red and tear-streaked, he had never seen her more beautiful. 'And eat some chocolate; remember what Remus always used to say.'

She smiled weakly, and had a sip of butterbeer. Ron could almost see it as the liquid slipped down her throat, calming her. A few chocolate bars later (mainly eaten by him) she was almost back to her normal self. Ron had been having a friendly argument with a house elf about what was a better cleaner; Mrs Scourers magic mess remover, or muggle brands, when she tugged at his elbow.

'Hmm?' he asked.

'You know, earlier,' she said, blushing slightly. Ron thought he knew she was talking about, but didn't want to make a fool of himself by getting the end of the stick, so he asked,

'When we kissed, you mean?' She nodded.

'Do you think we should, you now, get together?'

'You mean go out? Yeah, I've thought so ever since fifth year.'

'You have?' she asked.

'Yup, ever since I realized that you were actually a girl. When I found your lipstick.'

'You mean this one?' she asked, pulling it out of an inside pocket of her robes.

'Yeah, that… wait, why do you have it?'

'Oh, it's silly really.'

'Please tell me,' he pleaded, trying to put on a puppy dog look.

'Well, you said it was a nice colour, so I kept it.' Ron was amazed, Hermione had fancied him? He decided to share a secret with her, too.

'Do you know why I went out with Lavender?'

'I thought it was to show Ginny you could get a girlfriend?'

'Partly, but I went out with Lavender because her lipstick was almost the same colour as yours.' Hermione looked up at him.

'Really?'

'Yup,' Ron said. 'So, do you think we should get together?' Instead of answering him, Hermione reached up and kissed him.

'I'll take that as a yes then,' he grinned, when they pulled apart.

***

'Come on, Hermione, we'll be late!' Ron called up the stairs.

Harry and Ginny were having a New Year's party, at their new house, and Hermione had spent the whole afternoon getting ready. Ron waited impatiently. He loved going to see his little godson, James. He'd just learnt to crawl, and nothing was safe. The Christmas tree Ginny had spent hours painstakingly decorating was stripped of ornaments at the bottom, where James had pulled them off. Ginny was looking tired, but radiant and Ron had never seen Harry so happy.

'I'm nearly ready!' Ron knew this meant she'd be at least half an hour. He stomped up the stairs.

'What are you doing?' he asked. Hermione was frantically searching their room.

'I've lost my lipstick!' she said, looking under the pillows on the bed.

'Are you a witch, or what?' Ron asked, chuckling.

'Oh, yes! Accio!' The lipstick zoomed out of one of her drawers. Hermione looked into the vanity mirror as she put it on.

'What would you do without me, hey?' asked Ron.

'I don't know, Ron.' She smiled. They linked arms and apparated to the Potter's house. Ginny was waiting for them at the door, looking flustered.

'Thank goodness you're early Hermione, I really need your help,' said Ginny, and she whisked Hermione off, leaving a very bemused Ron standing in the doorway.

'Ron!' Harry appeared from a side gate of the house, a gurgling baby on his shoulders. James caught sight of Ron and reached out his chubby arms, giggling delightedly.

'Hello Harry, James,' Ron grinned.

'Have the girls left you out here on your own?' asked Harry.

'Yes, I've been abandoned,' said Ron, dodging James' outstretched arms as the baby attempted to grab his hair. 'What has that boy got with my hair?' Harry laughed again, and the baby gave a high pitched giggle and patted Harry's head with both his hands.

'Come in, but don't knock anything over or Ginny'll kill you.'

'Hostess of doom?'

'That's about right. She's been on edge all day,' Harry laughed.

'Hermione gets like this every time we have a party. It was worst when she was doing our wedding though,' said Ron, and knocked over a vase filled with roses with his elbow. 'Damn it!' He managed to catch it before it hit the floor, and cleaned up the spill of water with his wand.

'Close shave,' Harry laughed again.

'You're in a very good mood tonight,' said Ron, looking at Harry strangely. 'She hasn't drugged you, has she?'

'Nope. I'm just happy. D'you wanna help me put James to bed? He loves it when you read him a story and you do all the different voices,' Harry whispered.

'Sure, but why are you whispering?' asked Ron.

'I was supposed to put James to bed a while ago, before you arrived, but he saw a unicorn at the edge of the wood and we had to go and see it,' Harry said.

'Come then,' said Ron, and the two men walked stealthily towards the stairs.

'Harry? Is that you? Is James in bed?' called Ginny from the living room.

'Run!' yelled Ron, and they hurtled up the stairs, James gurgling in delight.

After story time, and Ron had put the Tales of Beedle the Bard back on the shelf, Harry tucked James in, and switched off the light. Ron turned around, and saw Ginny tapping her foot in the doorway, looking stern. Ron made his escape past Ginny, and ran to Hermione who was putting the finishing touches to a Champagne jelly in the kitchen.

'Hello,' he said, putting his arms round her waist and kissing her neck.

'Where've you been?' she asked, turning around and putting her arms round him.

'Reading James a story,' he said. 'You know, Hermione, we should have a kid.'

'When my work's settled down, we should,' said Hermione, and then she kissed him, distracting him from any thoughts he'd been having. When they went to meet Harry and Ginny in the rose-bedecked hallway, Ron was wearing a hint of lipstick.

Ron stood in the hospital, looking down at the little baby sleeping in his arms.

'Hello baby,' he cooed. Hermione, lying exhausted in a hospital bed, smiled.

'We need a name. We can't call her baby!'

'Well, I only thought of boys names. Have you got any?'

'I thought maybe Jennifer, but it doesn't seem to suit her,' sighed Hermione. 'And Charlotte isn't good either, because she'll be called Charlie Weasley, and there's already one of those.'

'Maybe we could name her after Tonks?' asked Ron.

'I don't think Tonks would want to curse a baby with her name, although Dora is quite nice.'

'True,' said Ron.

'And I'm not calling my baby Tonks, either. It's alright for Harry and Ginny, they named their kids after people,' Hermione complained. 'Maybe we should do your mother in, and then we can call her Molly.'

'I want our baby to have her own special name, but one that's special to us too,' said Ron. And then he remembered.

'Hermione, you don't happen to have your lipstick on you, do you?' he asked, excitedly.

'No, but Ginny has the same one as me in her bag, just in case I lose mine,' said Hermione, confused. 'But why…' Ron had already shot out the door, into the waiting room where Harry, Ginny, his Mum and Dad, Mr and Mrs Granger and the whole of the rest of the Weasley family were waiting. They had originally all been gathered around Hermione's bed, but the Healer had shooed them out.

Harry and Mrs Weasley started to get up.

'What's wrong, Ron?' asked Harry, looking at the baby in his arms.

'GINNY! I need Hermione's lipstick!' he shouted.

'Oh, ok,' said Ginny and she rummaged through her handbag, handing a sleeping Albus to Harry. James was sitting with Teddy and Victorie, playing something in the corner. As soon as she got it out, Ron snatched it and ran back into the ward, still clutching the baby close to him.

'What was that all about, Ron?' Hermione asked. Ron handed her the baby, and inspected the lipstick. A grin as big as a peeled banana spread across his face.

'What?' asked Hermione, again.

'How about Rose?' he said.

'Rose. Rose Weasley,' said Hermione, looking at the baby. 'Yes, that's her name.' Ron smiled. Rose Weasley opened her eyes, and began bawling.

'Oh dear. I think she's hungry.'

***

**A/N: So… review please!!!!! Let me know what you think.**

**Megs**


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